December 2008
152 posts
Adieu
Goodbye to
loving and living
and being and seeing and hearing
and feeling and tasting and sweating and
sipping and breathing and looking
and finding and wanting
and having and blogging
Barcelona.
Te amo, te quiero, te deseo.
Como ha pasado
Water
Today at the beach I remembered the feeling I always get whenever I’m at a beach - any beach - and look out over the water. I immediately feel the memories of all the other beaches and large bodies of water I’ve stood at the edges of, and I develop this strange, strong feeling of calm oneness.
Last Day, Part II
How I’ve spent it so far:
Blogged as though this blog were ending. Because it is. Went to the roof of Residencia Onix, top of the sixth floor, and looked at everything, slowly turning, slowly walking. Walked to the beach, put my feet in the Mediterranean and walked the length of the beach. Took pictures, took it all in. Ate my last Bo de B sandwich, wandered around Barrio Gotico and did...
“I don’t want to read your blog. I’m sad for you.”
– Amanda, on my Facebook wall today.
I think those last two posts were very cathartic.
Now I’m going to go have a real life today.
How I'm Memento-ing My Time
Scarves. Many
Three pairs of earrings
A Desigual bag
12 retro postcards, 6 other postcards for a collage-like display
Shot glasses from every city I visited. For display purposes.
About 3,000 pictures (literally…). To be added: the pictures I’m tagged in on Facebook from my time abroad. I’m going to go through them over winter break and make them the picture slideshow...
Barrio Guide
I’m sure I’ll edit this more later, but here goes the first draft.
All the places below I’ve visited, experienced and very much enjoyed. Ultimate favorites I’ve starred.
Also, some of these places might not be under the neighborhood they’re technically in, but that’s how they are in my head. You’ll find them, anyway.
From the mountains to the...
Last Day
Today is my last day in Barcelona. When I woke up it felt so ominious.
Jess has been home. I talked to her after she returned. She said it’s weird - it’s like nothing has changed.
I Don't Know
Right now I have no idea what I am feeling or how I should feel. I have one day left and I’m sitting here typing, and I feel even and unbalanced at the same time. I’m not happy, I’m not sad, I’m not angry, I’m not calm, I’m not agitated, I’m not OK, I’m not not OK; I just am. I don’t know.
So I’ll just keep posting.
Christmas Traditions
Barcelona (and I think Catalunya at large) has some interesting holiday traditions, both of which involve feces.
First off, in every nativity set sold at the Christmas market in front of the cathedral (which is huge…lots of Nativity sets), a figure is hidden in the scene who is pooping.
Secondly, there exists this happy holiday log animal that children run around and hit with sticks and...
Best Parts About Today (so far...)
I’m pulling an Elise here…
“Breakfast” (cafe con leche) at the top floor of the Catalonian History Museum overlooking the water and city.
Finalizing plans for dinner at the Textile Museum Cafe tomorrow.
Three beautiful scarves that have found their ways into my life.
Finding the “perfect street;” an inner courtyard-type square that most blocks of the...
Things That Need to/Will Happen in the Next Day...
Stop by CASB office to bid adieu to my program advisors and donate the 500 sheets of printer paper I have left from the pack I bought.
Hang out with Brigitte for the last time in Barcelona.
Blog some last thoughts.
Blog my neighborhood guides, mostly for my own memory’s sake. (already started drafts!)
Buy some last souvenirs/gifts.
Visit the University Gardens.
Edit my paper.
Have...
Scarves
Periodically, my accessory-obsession phase changes. For a while it was earrings, then it was bracelets until I realized nothing fits my baby-sized wrists, then it necklaces and briefly last year it was rings until I realized the life span of my rings was a few weeks because I always left them in bathrooms or they somehow disappeared off my hands.
Currently, it’s scarves. They’re so...
“I can legally buy alcohol in a country I’m not currently in!”
– James, on his 21st birthday. Last night we went out first to a friend in the program’s adorable place in Raval for drinks/snacks/cake then to a bar of James’s choice where I proceeded to tell everyone it was his 21st birthday, which is a huge deal because we’re from the U.S. And...
Instances That Have Made Me Realize Spanish...
1. They always ask if you have 20 cents, 30 cents, 50 cents or whatever the change part of your total is when you had them over a bill. Always. Doesn’t matter if you’re in a restaurant, a supermarket or a cab.
My proudest moment might have been when I paid the 7.56 for my groceries in exact change. I believe it was a 5-Euro bill, a 2-Euro coin, two 20-cent coins, a ten-cent coin, a...
Today I Discovered
A heavily-Arabic neighborhood pretty close to where I live (right on the other side of Princesa, which I walk all the time) and decided that Barcelona is ethnically diverse, it’s just not as apparent.
A souvenir shop for the “gourmets” of memento shopping, where I picked up 12 somewhat-retro postcards. For myself.
Pressure
I’m starting to feel it because I only have a few days to squeeze in everything I want to on this blog. And what final words will I leave myself with?
God, I wonder what it’s going to be like to re-read this one day. I don’t think that day will come for a while…
“I hope you wouldn’t mind if I show you around so when you go to certain...”
– Ludacris. (This is relevant, I swear!)
Last week when I was running in the park this lyric came up in one of my Girl Talk songs, and I had the brilliant idea to do some sort of wrap-up tour/overview of some of my favorite spots in the city. Only thing is I have no idea how to organize this. Should...
T-2 or 3 Days Until Blogcelona Ends
Oh, and T-3 days until Barcelona and study abroad are over and I return to the States.
To stay positive, I’ve begun thinking about some things I’m looking forward to about being back in the States, most of which share one key element: simplicity. Fast service, makeup sold in pharmacies, Wifi everywhere, my texting plan…
Then I realized, one thing I love so much about my life...
How Not to Get Robbed in BCN
Perhaps this is too soon for me to write this, because I fear jinxes. I just knocked on my desk, though, so that should help, even though I think it might be fake wood.
Stay focused and look pissed/focused when walking by bus stations, train stations, etc. and when using the metro, esp. when getting on/off
Have a bag that zips and keep it under your shoulder.
Keep your bag in your lap when in...
Palau de la Musica Catalana
Took a tour today because it’s perhaps the most decadent of all the Modernist sight in the city. It was intricate, coherent and overwhelming at the same time and I wanted eight more pairs of eyes. I started to take pictures and “Perdona…!” Pictures aren’t allowed. Are you kidding me?! Why?! I was so annoyed and I just wanted it all on my camera that I lagged behind a...
Luck
Spain has this Christmas lottery every, well, Christmas and it’s a high-roller arrangement, for sure. Tickets are 20 Euros, but the prize is about a billion Euros so I’m told.
Well there’s this town in Catalunya called “Sort,” which means luck, and possibly their biggest source of income is lottery tickets, because everyone wants to buy a ticket there. As a result...